A major study found that oral triptans work better for the acute treatment of migraine, than newer drugs. Molly O'Brien breaks it all down in this Migraine Minute News Update.

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Images and License to use: BMJ 2024;386:e080107http://bit.ly/4ljgU9x

Script: A major international study published in the British Medical Journal found triptans to be the most effective acute treatment for migraine.

Researchers analyzed 137 clinical trials involving nearly 90,000 adults… comparing 17 oral treatments. They looked at how many people were pain-free two hours post-dose and how many were still pain-free at 24 hours, as well as the safety and tolerability of the treatments.

They looked at how many people were pain-free at 2 hours and 24 hours, as well as the safety and tolerability of the treatments.

The top performer? Eletriptan — it was shown to be the most effective for both rapid and sustained pain relief. Other high performers included rizatriptan, sumatriptan, and zolmitriptan. Those four triptans consistently outperformed newer acute treatment options like lasmiditan, ubrogepant, and rimegepant.

These newer acute treatments worked about as well as acetaminophen and most non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Also, results showed that not all NSAIDs work the same for migraine.